US rabbis rally at UN, urging immediate ceasefire in Gaza

A group of rabbis from “Rabbis for Ceasefire” protested Tuesday inside the UN Security Council chamber and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Anadolu Agency reports.

The demonstrators urged the US to stop “vetoing peace”, referencing Washington’s vetoes that have opposed demands for a ceasefire and humanitarian pauses in Gaza.

“We are here at the UN in prayer and determination to support the UN to ask for immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to the man (President Joe Biden) that the US gets out of the way of the UN taking urgent action to save lives,” said one member of “Rabbis for Ceasefire”.

Carrying banners that read “Biden: The world says ceasefire now” and “Biden: Stop vetoing ceasefire,” demonstrators sang inside the chamber before being escorted out by security officers.

Later, they gathered in front of the main UN building and reiterated their demand for a ceasefire. “The United Nations, you have the unique power and the unique responsibility to bring about a permanent ceasefire,” they said.

The latest protests come as similar demonstrations have been persistent across the US for the past three months.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, on 7 October.

At least 23,210 Palestinians have since been killed and 59,167 injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities. Nearly 1,200 Israelis believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

About 85 per cent of Gazans have been displaced, while all of the populations are food insecure, according to the UN.

Hundreds of thousands of residents are living without shelter, and less than half of aid trucks are entering the Territory before the start of the conflict.

VIEW: Pro-Palestine protesters interrupt Biden’s speech, call for ceasefire in Gaza